Body and Soul
by Helena Mira
Summary: Bella and Edward are trapped in Volterra after Edward agrees to accept Aro's offer to join the guard. Now that Bella is changed, things suddenly don't seem so dire. They discover a powerful and passionate love that they now have eternity to explore. A companion story to "Jewel in the Crown," by the same author.
1. Chapter 1

**Body and Soul**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

**Author's Note: This story is an erotic companion to the "T" rated story, "The Jewel in the Crown." I will give some set up in this story, but to get the full story, you will need to read the other story. That story takes place during the last part of New Moon. At the last possible second, Edward decides to take up Aro's offer to join the Volturi guard. The prologue provides a brief synopsis of what happens in the first thirty-nine chapters of that story. I may add other chapters to this as the opportunities arise.**

**Prologue**

I am an idiot. First I immediately believed Rosalie when she said that Alice saw Bella committing suicide by jumping off of a cliff. Did I try to call Alice to verify the story? Did I try to contact Carlisle for his advice? No, I tried to call _Charlie_ to verify the story only to discover that he is at a funeral. Instead of asking _whose _funeral, I hung up the phone and decided to go the Italy to ask or provoke the Volturi into destroying me. How could I ever live in a world where Bella didn't exist?"

I was so sure of my course. I had had this plan in my back pocket since last year, when I was afraid that I might not get to Bella in time to save her from James. But I got to Phoenix in time and so she lived. And then we lived in the bliss of young love for an entire summer. It was as if the rest of my hundred years plus of life was meaningless. Every meaningful experience, everything that was worthwhile in my life, had happened that summer. And then the walls came tumbling down.

In the blink of an eye, a simple paper cut almost became a death sentence. As I knew that one such a Bella could not live in such close proximity to danger. The closer she was to me, the more likely that she would be killed. So I left. I disappeared into the dark night that was the world without her. However, I couldn't do. It was killing me by inches to be apart from her. I was so close to returning, but as always, it was too late. She could not bear to live without me. And she was gone.

Or rather, she was gone until I opened my eyes beneath the clock tower in the main square in Volterra and found her in my arms. She was alive and breathing and begging me not to die. We had one perfect moment of joy in our reunion. One second later, Felix and Demetri ordered me back to the tower. And then it was over.

Throughout the first part of ordeal, Bella held up well. She confounded all the vampire gifts that Aro had assembled over the centuries with her shielded mind. We were together, and she could bear that. But then she discovered that we were now going to spend the rest of our lives here, in this evil tower and she fell apart. Once the reality hit, even I had to admit that the only way to secure her existence was to change her.

Aro was surprisingly tolerant as we negotiated out terms with one another. I would change her, but first she must marry me. Aro called Carlisle and Esme to help us navigate the stormy waters. Aro's wife Sulpicia was first fascinated by Bella and then entranced. She wanted her for a friend. And Bella was amenable.

If the marriage was my idea, the wedding was Sulpicia's. Bella wanted no part of either, but Carlisle and Esme convinced her to behave. There were no other options on the table. So Bella gave in. When Alice sent me the jewelry box that contained all of my mother's precious jewels, she accepted the engagement ring. Then she gracefully allowed Sulpicia to have her fun planning the wedding.

I accepted that I essentially written my own destiny when I came to Volterra in the first place. And so I will be in the guard, as Aro's eyes and hears of the members if the guard. I have discovered my allies and my potential enemies. I know that I must use my power for Aro's benefit and for his alone. I have been forced to grow up quickly by my circumstances.

I am no longer a seventeen-year old boy, repeating high school over and over again. I am a man with an important position and a wife to take care of. Shortly after we were married, Bella breathed her last breath as a human and submitted herself willingly to the fiery torment of vampire transformation. Thankfully, Carlisle was here to oversee it so that there would be no mistakes.

We thought that we were prepared for her when she woke up. But there were surprises that awaited us. Throughout the process, she neither moved nor cried out. We had originally thought that her stillness was due to the mobilizing effects of the morphine that Carlisle liberally administered to her. However when she awoke, we discovered that the morphine had simply imprisoned the burning within her body and did not allow her body the chance to release the tension by screaming and thrashing about.

But most miraculous about her was the fact that she literally had no thirst. We asked her over and over if she wanted blood. But she repeatedly said no. She was hungry, not thirsty. And her hunger was for sex. Of course, we had always been hampered in our feeble attempts at intimacy by her humanness. The strength of a vampire could easily destroy a human, by either crushing her or biting her in moments of lost control. Up until this time, my relationship with her had been defined by self-control.

But there are no more reasons to desist. We are married, that was my requirement. She is a vampire; that was her requirement. And Aro has graciously given us as much time as we want to satisfy this long frustrated hunger. He has been able to see into every corner of my mind, so he knows the painful self-denial of my last year.

He knows how I denied myself the full pleasure of kissing her. He has seen every instance when she threw herself at me and I was forced to resist her attempts to draw closer. He knows the very moment of my life when I realized that she had changed me. He knows that she owns me. And now he is giving me the opportunity to satisfy my own hunger for her for as long as I want.

**Chapter 1: Hunger**

Once Aro and the others depart, Bella and I are left alone in the "bridal chamber." For two days it was the death chamber, as Bella gave up her mortal life to spend rest of eternity with me as a vampire. And for those two days, I tortured myself because I could only see myself as her murderer. It was my venom that was coursing through her veins and changing her from a soft, warm human into a cold, crystallized vampire. Yet now I have a difficult time considering her dead.

She stands before me, a fully sentient being, gazing at me with unadulterated lust in her bright, red ayes. I have never seen a newborn with such vivid eyes, but then again, I have not seen many newborns. Her fragile, breakable human body has been exchanged for a more durable vampire one. But most importantly, the essence of Bella remains. The woman standing before me is my Bella.

"Shall we get back to what we started a few minutes ago?" she asks suggestively.

What we had started was so sexually intense that Carlisle had to stop us before we ripped each other's clothes off in front of him. Both of us on our best behavior, Bella had answered his questions and then we presented ourselves to the disbelieving Aro. His mind was proof that he had never seen anything like it in the last three thousand years.

"Lucky Edward," mused the guard Gunnar, who had been appointed to protect the rest of the Volturi from the irrational newborn Bella.

But Bella's only lack of reason is coming from the fact that we are both still clothed in our wedding white. I decide that I have had enough of this pondering and that it is time for me to give myself over to my senses. I can finally do that without fear of hurting or killing her. Without a word, I reach over and tear her dress from her shoulders. I then descend on her.

She is ready for me, ripping away at my clothes. There are a jacket, a tie, and a shirt. Within seconds they are shredded in her hands. Before she can reach my pants, I have her slip and have torn it away. The bra barely last two seconds. It is her turn next as she pulls my trousers apart and rips away my shorts. I spring free, long and hard. But she is still wearing too much.

I lightly pick her up and toss her on the bed so that I can pull the last bits of fabric from her body. She is gorgeous as she lays before me in all of her glory. Her eyes look into mine with an emotion that far exceeds mere longing. Matching that desire with my own, I climb up over her, so that I am straddling her on my knees. I look own on her with pure lust of my own.

"Are you afraid?" I ask her in a husky voice. "Are you ready for me to enter you? "

"I am ready for you to complete my being," she whispers. "There is an ache inside of me that is longing to be filled. You are my other half. Please, take me now."

I look down at her in wonder. Carlisle had explained these powerful feelings to me. He explained to me the madness that will engulf my mind as my body gives in to the ecstatic release of orgasm. But he also said that I must be sure to pleasure my woman before taking my own pleasure. The foreplay, the touching, the exploration of the other increases the appetite. Suddenly, I want to titillate and tease. I want her to be screaming for me.

With that, I lean forward and take her mouth in my. She eagerly responds. She reaches up and twists her fingers in my hair and pulls me closer, as if she would swallow my mouth in hers. My mouth pulls away to lick and nip at her jaw and neck as I never have been able to before. As her hands move over my back, I lean to the side so that may hands can do some exploring of their own.

When she was human, how often did I wish that I could touch her skin in this way? Suddenly, I am able to caress every inch of her, first with my hands and then with my mouth, lingering over the soft curves of her breasts. Beneath me, her back arches in response. I know that she wants me.

"Please, please," she begs.

"All in good time, my love," I murmur. "All in good time. We've waited this long to consummate our love, what's a few more minutes?"

"I might explode in a few more minutes," she mewls. "Take me now!"

But I am now fascinated by the place where we will be joined. My fingers explore and I discover that I can have her breathless with pleasure as I move them in various ways. I bend down and kiss her there as she begins to writhe and squirm. Suddenly, her body is vibrating madly and suddenly she screams.

"Edward! Oh, God! Edward!" she cries out, as her body lurches backward, forward, and nearly upside down.

As she calms down, I smile at her victoriously. I have conquered her. But now it is my turn. This is the tricky part. I have been hard now for several minutes. She is wide open. Trying not to think too hard, I follow my animal instincts to find my way in. But there is no need to look. I feel her opening and slide in easily, a perfect connection. And I give myself over to the motion and rhythm as I thrust forward. At that first thrust, she gasps.

She meets my every thrust, following my rhythm and allowing me to set the pace. I know that I am pounding her hard by the gasps and cries of pain. I hope that it good pain because there is no turning back now. I pound until at last I lose my mind in a world of erotic ecstasy. I never thought that such excruciating delight was possible.

When I am spent I fall on her. She weaves her limbs through mine so that our bodies are entangled. I rest my cheek on her right shoulder and cup her left breast in my hand. As she catches her own breath, her fingers trace the planes of my face, my lips, my eyes, every inch of again and again in gentle circles. I can tell that she is thinking.

"Tell me the truth, Edward," she says hesitantly. "Have I pleased you?"

"You have given me pleasure beyond description," I reply. "I did not know my body was capable of feeling such things. In fact, I am beginning to think that I never knew my body at all. And you, love, how was it for you?"

"It was amazing," she says. "I had not imagined that such bliss even existed. When you entered me, I truly felt that we were one."

"Did I hurt you?" I ask. "I don't even know if it's the right question to ask. I'm sure that if you were human that you could not have survived. In this situation I do not think that I would have had the restraint. I just lost complete control."

"When you . . . before you . . . " she says shyly. "I lost control too. But when you entered me, there was pain. But it was brief. And then I couldn't feel you deeply enough inside if me. It makes me hunger for you again."

I smile down at her and then quickly flip onto my back so that she is on top. She giggles.

"I must get used to moving so quickly," she says, as she arches her neck.

My mouth begins to move again against the soft curve of her neck.

"Yet, in lovemaking," I say between kisses. "It is so much better to move slowly."

"We will never get hungry or need to sleep," she says. "We have no human needs to interrupt us. How will we ever stop?"

"That is not a problem that I wish to consider at this moment," I reply. "In fact, I really don't see it as a problem at all."

Her response is to pin my shoulders to the bed and straddle my body with her own. I am ready for her once again. As she lowers herself onto me, she groans in pleasure.

"You are so good," she says, as she begins to move.

From this position and with her superior strength, she is able to take control. I can tell that she likes it. Once again, I give myself over the the purely carnal pleasure of our lovemaking. She alternately picks up the pace and slows it down, teasing in her own way. I feel myself moaning beneath her. Now it is my turn to beg her to let me come.

"Oh, no," she says. "Now it's my turn. Don't worry. It will all be worth the wait."

I humor her for a few more minutes and then flip her on her back and establish a more intense pace. I hear no complaint from her. We collide over and over until we climax together, screaming each other's names. The sound of our bodies crashing together is loud and echoes off of the stone walls. I don't care if anyone else is listening. If anyone is spying on us, they can be jealous for all I care.

This time when I release her, I turn onto my back and pull her close into me. Once again she wraps herself around me like a vine. As I run my fingers down her body, she shivers.

"I will never get tired of this," she says, purring like a contented kitten.

"I don't think that I will ever be satisfied by you," I answer. "I will always want more. Do you think that you can handle that?"

"I think that can be arranged," she says and cuddles in closer.

I suppose if we were human, we would fall asleep. Or at the very least have to recover our strength. But I can feel my erection rising once again against her hip. She grabs me and laughs.

"You are mine!" she declares. "Body and soul."

"I don't have a soul," I answer into her hair. "And now neither do you."

Suddenly she releases me and looks down at me, her red eyes burning feverishly.

"Don't you ever say that again!" she says sharply. "What we feel for each other is more than physical. My desire for you comes from more than want to make love over and over. I can feel my soul reaching in towards yours. We are now one, both physically and spiritually."

"When you put it like that," I reply. "I can almost believe you."

"I will _make _you believe me!" she says imperiously.

And before I know it, we are entangled in one another again. My last thought before I submerge again beneath her spell is, at some point we are going to need to get dressed and face the outside world. But since we've essentially destroyed our clothes, what are we going to wear when we leave here?


	2. Chapter 2

**Body and Soul**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story fits into the main story "Jewel in the Crown," after Chapter 41._

**Chapter 2**

I have lost track of time, the same way that I have lost track of the number of times that Bella and I have made love. She is insatiable and I am thrilled to be able to keep up with her demands. I am very pleased to discover that just as vampires have superhuman strength in all other physical activities, sex is simply another one. I am sure that either Jasper or Emmett could have told me that but we never had the occasion to discuss it.

Shortly after I started dating Bella, Emmett expressed his concern that if we brought our relationship to its inevitable conclusion (sex) that there was no way that a mere human would satisfy me. But then again, he thought that would be because I would kill her just by trying. I am sure that in his wildest dreams, he never thought that I would be the one struggling to satisfy _her. _

Of course, throughout our courtship, I was extremely careful with her. And she made it very difficult. How many times when I was kissing her, did she mold her body to my body in a way that made me feel physical sensations that I never dreamed existed? One reads about these feelings of lust and carnal desire that accompany love, but reading and feeling are two entirely different things.

My twentieth century moral standards of behavior were what kept me in line. Her twenty-first morality kept trying to pull me out. Not that she was what you would call "easy." When I had admitted to my own "inexperience" in this area, I had asked her if she had ever had sex before. She said that she had never met anyone that she felt _that _way about.

But she certainly felt that way about me. I remember how _awesome_ just that knowing that felt. This beautiful girl that I adored wanted to give herself to me. She wanted _me _to be the one to whom she gifted her precious innocence, her virginity. It made it all the more special to me that at the age of almost eighteen, she had kept herself "intact." It was as if she had been waiting for me.

How easy would it have been to sample some of the delights that she so freely offered? Too easy, the feeling of her body so close to mine has quite literally stirred the passion, deep within me that was long slumbering. And as we have proved over the last few days, once it was awakened, it was nearly impossible to stop.

But I quickly learned where to draw the line while she was still a fragile human. The minute that I felt myself losing control, the minute that I sensed the erection growing; I would pull back. I was afraid that if she knew that she was so close to seducing me that she would push me beyond my limits to control myself.

And now I know that it would have been a horrible disaster. I have no doubt that my intense desire to completely join with her in this way would surely have crushed that frail human body of hers. And I knew that even if it was possible to premeditate such action, it wouldn't have taken much for me to snap her on two.

If I had ever mourned the loss of my sweet, warm, fragile Bella, that feeling is now long gone. She has been replaced by an even sweeter (if possible), fiery, powerful Bella. In fact, if I could bruise, she would probably have made _me_ black and blue from her excesses. From the minute this incredibly sensual young woman was released there was no stopping her.

As if I wanted to! Perhaps if I had known the sheer ecstasy of making love to my soul mate, I would have been less interested in her immortal soul and far more in her immortal body. And what about the abject misery that I caused her when, rather than make her safe from Jasper by giving her the only birthday gift she really, I chose to leave her?

"Can you ever forgive me, my love?" I ask her as I stroke her glorious hair.

"For what?" she says.

"Forcing you to endure those months of suffering without me," I say. "I realize what a foolish, pretentious jerk that I was for thinking that I held the keys for you to the pearly gates. It was hubris, pure hubris, that made me think that a single action of mine could deny you an entrance into heaven,"

"I forgave you the minute I saw you from across the square," she replies. "I raced forward, hoping desperately that I wouldn't fall on my face or drown in that stupid fountain. I was determined that no matter what, I would get to you before you ended your existence."

"I am afraid to ask what you would have done in that case," I say.

"I would have run up to the guards who murdered you and offered myself up as a meal," she says. "I would have begged them to kill me so that I could join you wherever you were."

"And if I was in hell?" I ask.

"I would have met you there," she answers in surprisingly sanguine tone. "After all, they say that suicide is an unforgivable sin."

"No," I shake my head. "Considering what I put you through, I am sure that they would not have denied you a place there."

"Then it wouldn't have been heaven without you," she stubbornly insists. "And I would have demanded that they send me to hell or wherever you were immediately."

"Even as a vampire, your instincts are all backwards," I say. "Except for one."

"And that's the one that matters," she says smugly as I kiss her forehead.

We are lying together now on what is left of the marriage bed. There's not too much of the furniture that is more than splinters. All of the lovely fabric, which Sulpicia had decorated the room is now in scraps. Looking around, I can't help but chuckle.

"What?" she says, as she props herself up on her elbow to look down at me.

"And I was disgusted by Emmett and Rosalie's behavior when they first discovered each other sexually," I say, resisting the urge to stroke her cheek and initiate another round.

"What was wrong with their behavior?" she asks.

"It depends on your definition of wrong," I say. "But I can see that I was a little too judgmental of their passionate excesses for the first ten years."

"Did they trash a couple of bedrooms?" she asks, looking around at the debris.

"Hah! A couple of bedrooms?" I say. "We lost track of the bedrooms. That was why Esme kicked them out of the house a couple of times. No, they knocked down a couple of _houses!"_

"Houses?" she asks incredulously. "As in houses, houses?"

"Look at how big and strong Emmett is," I say. "I'm not sure that the tower would still be standing after one of their, uh . . . sessions. It's a good thing that when he woke up, he was so blood thirsty that he couldn't even _think _about sex until after the first year. He might have injured Rosalie. And that would have pissed her off."

"But I thought that vampires couldn't be hurt," she says puzzled.

"Well, they can, but that's immaterial," I say. "No, Rosalie doesn't like it when her hair gets messed up. In her mind, there is no greater injury. And trust me, I've seen it many times."

Bella rolls her eyes.

"She would care more about her hair," she says in disbelief. "Than this?"

Laughing, she straddles me and looks down.

"So when Emmett woke up, he wanted blood more than sex," she says.

"Bella, _all _vampires want blood more than sex," I say.

"What about you?" she asks playfully. "What is better for you? What do you want more? Blood or sex?"

"No contest," I reply. "Sex. But only sex with you."

"It better only be sex with me," she growls. "Why do you think that is?"

"Maybe it's the animal blood diet," I say. "Or maybe it's you. But I just think that sex is better. But you really are pretty weird. How have you been able to go for four days without being horribly thirsty? Especially since you just woke up. It's unnatural."

She laughs her sweet bell-like laugh. To me it is the most beautiful music in the world.

"Unnatural?" she asks. "Aren't you the one who was always telling me that the existence of vampires goes against nature; or maybe it was Jacob."

"I really don't give a crap what Jacob ever said to you," I growl. "Keep that stupid mongrel out of our conversations or . . . "

"Or what?" she says, leaning over and grabbing my hair in her fist. "Are you jealous?"

"Of that _mutt?"_ I say. "I'm pissed at myself for leaving you so that you had to go to him for comfort. I just hope that you never . . . "

"Kissed him? Or _worse! _Of course not!" she says. "Not that he didn't try, but I just couldn't. You were all that I wanted."

"Did you ever want . . . " I can't finish my question, although I am rather pleased that she has used the word "worst" in conjunction with his name.

"No," she says. "The only two things that I ever felt for him were friendship and guilt. And the guilt was _because _all that I ever felt was friendship. I knew that he wanted more, but there was nothing left to give him. I had already given everything to you. And what I had given you, I never wanted back. All I wanted was you."

"Even though I didn't deserve you," I say.

"No, I was the undeserving one," she says. "That's what I always thought and that's why I believed you when you told me that I wasn't good enough for you."

"I never said that you weren't good enough for me," I reply. "I said that you weren't good for me. There's a world of difference. But that was the worst lie that I told you. No one has ever been as good for me as you. And I still can't believe that you believed me."

"Well, believe it," she says tartly. "Because I did."

"Of course you did," I say. "Because you were the most gullible human alive. I hope that your truth meter is better in the afterlife."

"Thanks a . . . Wait a minute!" she says. "Are we having our first fight?"

"What the hell brought that on?" I ask impatiently.

"Well," she says with her silkiest, sexiest voice. "If this is our first fight, then we will have to have our first make up sex when it's over."

She leans down to kiss me, pushing her tongue through my eager lips and into my mouth. She slides herself down so that she can feel my rising erection. She pulls her mouth back for a second."

"Is it over?" she whispers seductively. "The fight?"

"It's over!" I gasp and grab the back of her head.

Once again, time stands still and our bodies move in perfect synchronization. I have feel silky tresses as she works her way down my body from my mouth to find that organ of my body that she has so recently discovered. And I have finally discovered what the expression "deep throat" means.

But she likes to play and tease more than she likes to finish the job. It is only a short time before I am flipping her only too eager body back down on the bed. She knows that I have reached my limit and is waiting eagerly for me. It is my turn to tease. It's all part of the anticipation of the pay off. And throughout our long days and nights, we have discovered that anticipation is the key to a really great orgasm.

Our bodies are so in tune with one another now, that simultaneously climaxing is a regular part of our lovemaking. We were laughing the other day about how if the timing isn't right, the first to go under is the one who feels guilty for beating out the other to the point of ecstasy. But the pleasuring that goes only the guilty party to the other is _almost _worth the wait.

This time we get it right, screaming each other's names as the moment hits for both of us. When the last of the shaking and trembling is over, I collapse on her, breathing heavily.

"Ugh!" she says. "Now I know why they talk about sweating up the sheets. I can't imagine what it's like for humans. I'm glad that we don't sweat.

"Darling," I say ironically. "There are no sheets left to sweat."

"I see that," she says picking at the scraps of fabric. "Ooh! You spilled a little blood during the biting."

"I did no such thing!" I say feeling a little insulted. "I am probably the most fastidious vampire alive when it comes to dripping when I drink."

"Well, I have the proof right here," she says, holding up a piece of satin that is clearly stained with something.

I take it from her and sniff.

"That's blood alright," I agree. "Well, maybe it's because I was so nervous that I didn't notice."

"Why were you nervous?" she asks.

"Don't laugh," I say. "But I was afraid that I would hurt you. As if biting you could possibly be more painful than the agony of transformation."

She shivers.

"I don't want to think about that," she says with mock petulance. "But considering what I have gone through to be able to be with you this way, I believe that it is your duty to make it up to me."

"With pleasure!" I reply enthusiastically.

And that is when we end our conversation. But before I succumb to the desires of my body, I think that there is no way that her soul has been destroyed. She is still too . . . perfect. And if I believe that there is hope for her soul, then perhaps there is hope for mine.

_Author's note: The main story picks up from this at Chapter 42._


	3. Chapter 3

**Body and Soul**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_**Author's note: This chapter follows Chapter 46 of "Jewel in the Crown."**_

**Chapter 3**

Despite her anxiety and fear for the future, Isabella is able to surrender her body to its own natural impulses. It has really only been about twelve hours since we left the bridal chamber, but it feels as though a lifetime has passed. I received my cloak and we said goodbye to Carlisle and Esme.

It had not occurred to me that because Chelsea's gift does not work on her that she would still miss them so much. And it is all the more heartbreaking for her because i must appear so cold and callous to the two people who have loved and cared for me so much all of these years. But while i can understand their sorrow and hers from a distance, the bond with the Cullen coven has been severed. And I cannot fight my affiliation now to Aro.

Just as with Jasper's gift, even though you that that someone else is controlling you there is no way to fight it off, unless of course you are Isabella. I wish that there was something that I could do to ameliorate that situation for her, but there isn't. She must live with my indifference to the man that she has only see me love and revere. But I have larger things to worry about.

My immediate concern is the fact that she has had nothing to drink in almost six days. A few minutes ago she was tempted with human blood, and instead of killing her meal, she started up a conversation. No wonder Sulpicia is worried! What newborn vampire would turn down too humans after six days of abstinence?

At least Aro is being understanding. I don't know what I would do if he decided that she was too much trouble to keep around. And what of the potential danger she poses the longer that she will not eat? What happens if this control breaks down and she suddenly becomes an insanely ravenous vampire? But despite the potential danger, I cannot bring myself to move away from her to a safe distance.

Her eyes are ravenous, not with thirst, but with lust. I reach forward to slowly unbutton her blouse so that we don't rip it to shreds. She reaches across and unchains my cloak, and after she takes it off, throws it to one of the far corners of the room. Without comment, I pull her blouse back over her shoulders and drop it on the floor.

"That is still my favorite color on you," I murmur as I reach around to unhook her bra. "I must say that I do like Sulpicia's taste in lingerie."

"I believe that it was Gianna who picked it out," she replies, as she begins to work on the buttons of my shirt. "I do like the way that the black silk looks on you, but for now, I prefer it off you."

"Do you now?" I say as I drop the bra on the floor.

"I remember how I used to love looking at your bare chest," she says as she drags my shirt off. "But whenever I stroked it, the icy cold made my hand tingle. Now, even though we are the same temperature, my hand still tingles."

"My whole body tingles for you," I whisper. "But let's kick off these shoes so that we can get our jeans off more easily."

"You know," she says. "It's a lot easier to wear heels as a vampire. Especially now that I have perfect balance."

"You have perfect everything," I say. "But to me, you were always perfect."

"Is it possible to be more perfect?" she asks.

"My Bella was the perfect human," I reply as I stroke her body. "My Isabella is the perfect vampire."

"Do you really like the name Isabella better?" she asks. "The first time that you actually deigned to acknowledge my existence, you called me Bella."

"That's because ever since you had come to school," I explain. "Everyone whose mind I read had called you Bella. But I always preferred Isabella. The music of it suits you."

"Then I should be grateful that Aro has given you what you always wanted," she says.

"You have given what I always wanted," I reply, and then begin to kiss her again.

She is lying prone before me and I kneel above her. I carefully undo the button on her jeans and slide them off, followed by her panties.

"This is how I love you best," I say. "Naked and vulnerable before me. I dreamed of moments like these, even during those wretched months when we were apart. And to think that I used to think that the humans who fantasized about such things were so shallow."

"What I feel for you isn't shallow," she says. "It is deep. It has always been deep."

She reaches up and unbuttons my jeans for me, but I jump up so that I can kick them off, all the time not taking my eyes off of her magnificent body.

"Is such perfection only meant for me?" I ask as I admire her.

She lifts her arms above her head and gives me a very smug grin. She stretches lazily and purrs. My whole lower body tightens as she casually parts her thighs.

"Every inch of this is meant for you," she says sweetly. "Just as every inch of _that_ is meant for me."

I smile more widely as I lay down beside her. She shifts over to make room, but then invites me into her arms. It is an invitation that I can't refuse. I lean over her and initiate a full-mouthed kiss. After several minutes of exploring her mouth I move along her jawline to her neck and shoulders. She squirms beneath me.

"Edward!" she says in a low voice.

I know what she wants, but she knows me well enough by now to know that I will take my time before I realize the ultimate pleasure. I never knew how truly amazing it would feel to take her breast into my mouth. I play with the nipple with my tongue until it is hard and then nearly swallow it. She moans with pleasure and then I move to. The other side.

"Edward, please," she grunts, as she pulls my hair.

But she doesn't stop me, even though she could. She doesn't even try to stop me with her greater strength. This tells me that despite her protests, she is enjoying my attention to her body as much as I am. I suppose that we could simply copulate over and over again, but where would the fun be in that? I crave variety with my lover. And I know that she feels the same way.

But she is still stronger than me and suddenly she is pulling me up by the shoulders and drinking in my mouth once more. She grinds her pelvis up into my erection, and now it's my turn to moan. Then using her superior strength, she easily flips me on my back and straddles me.

"If you won't take me," she says. "Then I will take you."

And she lowers herself onto me to prove her point. It is so deep, that I know that I am filling her completely.

"Ahh!" she says as she sinks as low as she can. "That's so _good!"_

Yes, it is. It's so good that I don't really move. But within a second I realize that I don't have to. She is riding me hard and I can't help but respond. No matter how hard I buck up into her, she is ready. When I explode, I hold my cries in so that they come out as grunts. She doesn't scream either, but silently absorbs her orgasm as she arches back over my legs. When I am spent, I pull her forward so that. I can cradle her again in my arms.

"Hmm," I hum. "Are you feeling less anxious? Has that worked out some of tension?"

"Only some," she replies. "I think that I still have a bit more to work out."

"Me too," I say, holding her close and kissing her head. "I can't imagine what it would have been like to do this while you were still human. I would have killed you for sure."

"No you wouldn't have," she says. "You would have tried making love to me once and it would have convinced you to change me right away. But you wouldn't have killed me."

"You're right on both counts," I admit. "And I'm glad that I got to marry you while you were still human."

"But didn't the other . . . Cullens marry after they were changed?" she asks. "Their marriages were perfectly valid."

"It was less about valid and more about the way that I wanted to do things," I explain. "It's always been about you choosing me over all the others. And since all of my rivals were human, you could only have chosen me above them while you were still human."

"I wouldn't have wanted, let's say, Mike Newton if I were a vampire?" she asks.

"I don't see you as a succubus," I say honestly. "But you certainly wouldn't have wanted your werewolf friend."

"Why not?" she asks curiously.

"You'll know if you ever run into one," I reply. "Which is very unlikely in here. The stench of a werewolf is one of the most appalling smells to a vampire. And I believe that the feeling is mutual. And the stink is whether he is in wolf or human form. If you ran into your friend Jacob today, neither of you could stand to be near each other."

"If I ran into Jacob today, now that I'm a vampire," she says. "He'd kill me."

"No he wouldn't," I reply. "He might attack, but you would kill him. Your natural instinct would be to defend yourself by grabbing him. As a newborn you would have the physical strength to crush. You may be able to control many things. But I doubt thst you could control your instinct for survival."

But she doesn't answer. She is distracted once again by my body. Letting go of the uncomfortable topic of werewolves, I give my mind over to the pleasure of her body. In the back of my mind, I wonder how angry Aro would be if I came back a little late. Still, he was the one who told me to comfort her. When I explain her present mental state, he will have to agree that she needs a great deal of comforting.

My poor Isabella! It would seem that she has a human soul in a vampire's body! Who ever heard of such a thing?

_Author's note: The main story picks up at Chapter 48 in Forks. That story will not be returning to Volterra until Chapter 50. _


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